The Staff Side would like to ask the following question:
At the last LJCC, the Head of HR provided information on staff absence related to stress, depression, anxiety and mental health issues during 2017/2018. However, no monitoring of employee mental health and wellbeing as recommended in ‘Thriving at Work—Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers’ has been undertaken.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thriving-at-work-a-review-of-mental-health-and-employers
Given the impact on staff of increasing workloads, reorganisation and outsourcing activity, will the Council respond to the findings of the report, agree to undertake such monitoring and meet other ‘mental health core standards’, which the Stevenson / Farmer review believed all organisations in the country to be capable of implementing quickly?
Minutes:
The Staff Side had asked the following question:
At the last LJCC, the Head of HR provided information on staff absence related to stress, depression, anxiety and mental health issues during 2017/2018. However, no monitoring of employee mental health and wellbeing as recommended in ‘Thriving at Work—Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers’ has been undertaken.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thriving-at-work-a-review-of-mental-health-and-employers
Given the impact on staff of increasing workloads, reorganisation and outsourcing activity, will the Council respond to the findings of the report, agree to undertake such monitoring and meet other ‘mental health core standards’, which the Stevenson- Farmer review believed all organisations in the country to be capable of implementing quickly?
Prior to the meeting, the Director of HR had disseminated the following response:
The Council’s approach to managing mental health is dealt with in a number of ways, namely:
1. Training for managers on Managing Employee Ill Health is delivered in house to managers. The training provides managers with practical advice and guidance on how to manage employee ill health and includes information on how to manage stress and depression, as well as other mental health conditions. In addition, mental health awareness sessions have been arranged for both staff and managers. We are also looking at commissioning mental health training for accredited first aiders in the Council.
2. The Council recognises good practice and HR will routinely advise managers on the use of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Stress Tool where sickness absence, connected to work related stress has been identified. This tool helps managers to identify the stressors so that the manager and employee can work through the areas of concern in order to support and assist them.
3. The Council, through its Occupational Health contractor, provides an Employee Assistance Programme, whereby employees and their families can access free confidential telephone counselling 24/7. In addition, and where this has been recommended, the Council can also provide face to face counselling sessions.
The Director of HR stated that he had studied the document that was referred to in the link on the question provided by the Vice Chairman. The document outlined good practice but did not contain elements relating to any legal duty for the Council. He felt that for the most part, LBB was already working in line with the recommendations. He highlighted that LBB had been working with Nicola Musto to help spread awareness of mental health and well-being issues throughout the Council. Ms Musto’s training in this area had been supported by the Council and it was the case that a conference regarding mental health was being arranged shortly. It was hoped to invite Prince Harry or Prince William, or possibly the Duchess of Cambridge; alternatively a representative of their mental health charity ‘Heads Together’.
A Member asked if the Council consulted with employees to ask them how they were doing. The Director of HR replied that a survey of this nature had been undertaken in the past, and a new one was about to be undertaken by ACAS. This had been one of the recommendations that had previously been advocated by the Departmental Representatives. Additionally, the Council was now in the process of asking employees leaving the Council to complete a last opinion survey so that relevant feedback and information was relayed back to the Council from employees that were leaving. A six monthly ‘On Boarding Survey’ would also be run for existing staff so that the Council could receive up to date feedback from employees.
The Vice Chairman was pleased to note the involvement of ACAS and the Departmental Representatives in the implementation of a new independent staff survey, she asked if the unions could also be involved in this. She highlighted that the prevention of mental health issues was very important, rather than just responding to incidents when they arose. The idea should be that through the effective monitoring of staff health and well-being, individuals could be helped before they developed serious mental health issues or reached a crisis point.
The Director of HR clarified that the ACAS survey would be generic and not limited to mental health issues.
The Director of HR expressed the view that the best monitoring tool was to effectively equip/train managers so that they were able to identify possible mental health problems with their staff at an early stage. They should also be equipped so that they knew how to respond effectively should the need arise.
A Member welcomed the positive comments and feedback that had been received from the Staff Side and observed that the previous minutes had noted that LBB had a low absence figure with respect to mental health issues. It was also the case that not all mental health issues were related to problems at work. He applauded the Director of HR for the mental health schedule that he had planned.
A Member asked if any special measures had been required due to the current heatwave. The Director of HR responded that managers had been provided with the relevant guidance and a flexible approach would be adopted with respect to employee dress.